5 Factors Affecting Your Period While Breastfeeding

Can you get your period while breastfeeding? Yes. In fact, there is such a variance in the amount of time that passes before a period is seen that some mothers won’t experience a period at all during breastfeeding.

Typically, breastfeeding will suppress a period for quite some time. Some mothers won’t have a period for weeks, while other mothers have gone as long as 24 months before their period returned. There are a lot of factors at play during this time, so the time you’re without your period will vary greatly.

5 Factors Affecting Your Period While Breastfeeding

Your body is going crazy, internally, at this time, so it’s common for one woman to get her period while breastfeeding and another not to get her period. There are a lot of factors that will alter the menstrual cycle at this time, including:

All of these factors will play a role in you getting your menses back. Hormonal changes cannot be altered, but your sleep, bottle-feeding and nursing durations can.

Uninterrupted sleep allows the body to regenerate and will help your body return to a normal cycle. Mothers are usually up at all hours of the night while their baby cries or needs to be fed. Mothers that are allowed to sleep the entire night will often get their period back much faster as a result.

Bottle-feeding means you’re not nursing all the time. This ties directly into nursing duration. When bottle-feeding, your body will begin to go back to its normal cycles because you’re not relying solely on your own milk to feed the baby.

If you don’t want to get your menstrual cycle back quickly, nursing all of the time is the best option and leads to the best chance of having no period while breastfeeding.

While there is no set rule when you’re period will come back, most new moms will have their period return after 6 months. Again, don’t worry about your period at this time as it can take 24 months before it returns for some women.

Irregular Periods While Breastfeeding

Undergoing a major change, a woman may start to get irregular periods while breastfeeding. The act of breastfeeding itself causes the body itself to produce hormones that aid in the production of breast milk.

These hormones work to suppress menstruation.

Unfortunately, the body is not precise at all times, so these hormone levels may rise or fall as needed. Lactation amenorrhea is the process that ultimately stops the menstrual cycle when breastfeeding.

After giving birth, it’s not uncommon to bleed slightly and mistake this blood for menstrual blood.

A good indication that your period is about to return is feeling the symptoms of a period without any blood being present. This is an indication that your period will begin to return shortly.

Women that feed their baby only formula will find that their period returns within 1 to 2 months.

Irregularity is perfectly normal. It’s not uncommon to have a period one month and then miss it the next month or two while breastfeeding. If you have stopped breastfeeding and you still have irregular periods, it is recommended that you consult with your physician to determine why your menses are not returning to normal just yet.

Getting Pregnant

Many women make the mistake of thinking they cannot get pregnant at this time. While your menstrual cycle may not be present just yet, some women have gotten pregnant even while breastfeeding and not experiencing a period.

While these are exceptional cases, they can and do occur.

Women are advised to wait several months to a year before trying to conceive another child. This is done to allow the body to heal and regulate hormone levels. If pregnancy does occur, it’s vital that you contact a physician and have an exam done. This will allow you to take the proper precautions to deliver a second healthy child.

Having a period while breastfeeding can and does occur. Women normally experience periods much later with their first child and much faster when they give birth to their second child. It’s not uncommon for a menstrual cycle to return after 11 weeks following a second childbirth.The Video is about delivering a baby.